REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 



OF THE 



CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



In conformity with Article IV, section 2, of the By-Laws of the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington, the President has the honor to 

 submit the following report on the work of the Institution for the 

 fiscal year ending October 31, 1923, together with brief discussion of 

 certain present problems and provisional recommendations of appro- 

 priations for the ensuing year. 



A report covering the operations of the Institution for the past 

 fiscal year must concern itself largely with the results of researches 

 which have reached completion in the form of printed 

 ^'and ^ monographs and shorter papers. The most satisfac- 



Pubiished tory form in which this statement can be made is that 

 utilized in preparing the material in the Year 

 Book for consideration at the time of the annual meeting of the 

 Board of Trustees. By reason of the fact that only a few days elapse 

 between the conclusion of our fiscal year and the time at which the 

 report of the President is transmitted, it is necessary to submit the list 

 of our publication activities included in this report in lieu of the full 

 statement. The group of titles representing work actually completed 

 and issued during the year is an impressive illustration of the activ- 

 ities of our Institution as a whole. Even a rapid review reveals both 

 the quantity and the wide range of scientific problems to which the 

 support of the Institution is given. It is particularly interesting to 

 compare the list of publications of 1923 with the lists of other years and 

 to realize that these contributions represent the continuing movement 

 of the borders of knowledge into the field of the unknown. 



Any attempt to review the scientific activities of the Institution in 

 detail must be exceedingly superficial unless it is extended to limits 

 which would approximate the extent of condensed reports constituting 

 the bulk of our Year Book for 1923. It is, however, proper to call 

 attention to special movements or changes in the activities of the past 

 year which may be recognized as typical of our progress. 



The work of the three great departments of the Institution concerned 

 with the investigation of fundamental physical phenomena, namely, 



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